•
Rating: It was a Bob Dylan in deep personal crisis who wandered from one city to another in America with his travelling troupe in 1975 and 1976, partly foreshadowing what would become, a few years later, the “Neverending Tour”, which continues to this day.
He was coming out of a marriage in pieces, the one with Sara Lowndes, the “Sad eyed Lady of the Lowlands” so marvelously depicted in an epic song from 1966, featured on “Blonde on blonde”.
Artistically, however, the musician is in one of his most inspired phases, being in the middle of “Blood on the tracks” and “Desire”, his two greatest masterpieces of the ’70s.
In this supergroup, in addition to Bob, of course, there are Bobby Neuwirth, T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and Mick Ronson on guitars, Scarlet Rivera on the violin, David Mansfield on steel guitar, mandolin, dobro, and violin, Rob Stoner on bass, Howie Wyeth on piano and drums, Luther Rix on drums, percussion, and congas, and Ronee Blakely on backing vocals. Also, there is the extraordinary participation in four tracks by Joan Baez and in one by Roger McGuinn.
The first thing you notice is the high level of the recording and the sound. It starts with a track that was originally on the country album “Nashville skyline”, and here it is revisited in a powerful rock version with the guitars prominently featured. “It ain’t me babe”, a song almost always present in his live shows, is here in a curious version that resembles a bit of “Memphis blues again”. Great is the version of “A hard rain’s a-gonna fall”, although those used to the usual sweet acoustic version may be a bit perplexed. Here it's all-out rock-blues. “The lonesome death of Hattie Carroll” is a ballad taken from his third album, “The times they are a-changin’”. Then a song which, at the time of the Rolling Thunder Revue, had not yet been released, and therefore was unknown to most: “Romance in Durango”, needless to say more. Another track from the not yet published “Desire”, is “Isis”, sung with an intensity and participation that are simply astonishing. “Mr. Tambourine Man” begins a fantastic acoustic moment that also includes “Simple twist of fate”, and then the entrance of the Lady Joan Baez performing in duet with Bob three golden pieces of the Dylan repertoire, “Blowin’ in the wind”, absolutely not to be missed with Bob singing and Joan providing the counterpoint, “Mama, you been on my mind”, dedicated to Baez’s mother, and then the perhaps most beautiful track of the entire double live, “I shall be released”, enchanting.
The second CD (yes, because it’s a double featuring a box with a 56-page booklet containing numerous details about the tour, also rich from an iconographic standpoint) starts with another acoustic piece, “It’s all over now, baby blue”. “Love minus zero/No limit” in this case shows why it’s one of his most “covered” songs, another great acoustic version. The acoustic moment continues with “Tangled up in blue”, a song that must have been quite troubled, considering that over the years it underwent several lyrical changes (during his Christian period, the Italian poet of the ‘300 had become a passage from Genesis). Then it's the turn of a traditional, “The water is wide”, for which Baez returns to the stage. The acoustic moment ends, electric guitars are picked up again, and it's immediately a rock-blues ride, “It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry”, one of the tracks from the historic “Highway 61 Revisited”. Then back to ballads with “Oh, sister”. Then comes one of the most representative Dylan tracks of the period, that “Hurricane” which was dedicated to the black boxer Rubin Carter, unjustly imprisoned and accused of murder. It moves to another ballad present on “Desire”, that “One more cup of coffee” which also recently appeared on the new album of Robert Plant “Dreamland”. One of the most touching moments of the concert is when Bob intones a piece of infinite sadness. That piece is heartfeltly dedicated to his wife Sara who is leaving him. That piece is simply titled “Sara”. Of course, “Just like a woman” couldn't be missing, then it closes with Roger McGuinn helping Bob in the conclusive “Knockin’ on Heaven’s door”, saved by Bob in its definitive version before any Guns’n’Roses could come and despoil it.
What else to add? That this album might even make those reconsider who view Bob Dylan as a concert jukebox, an inexpressive and full-of-himself man. This album is undoubtedly one of the best live recordings in history and it's a great thing that Columbia decided to release it, moreover in a luxurious package, after years of “piracy”.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 It Ain't Me, Babe (05:27)
Go away from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want babe
I'm not the one you need
You say you're lookin' for someone
who's never weak but always strong
to protect you and defend you
whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain't me, babe
no, no, no it ain't me, babe
it ain't me youre lookin' for, babe
Go lightly from the ledge, babe
Go lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want, babe
I will only let you down
You say you're lookin' for someone
who'll promise never to part
someone to close his eyes for you
someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you and more
But it ain't me, babe
no, no, no it ain't me, babe
it ain't me you're lookin' for, babe
Go melt back in the night
Everything inside is made of stone
there's nothing in here moving
And anyway, I'm not alone
you say you're lookin' for someone
who'll pick you up each time you fall
to gather flowers constantly
and to come each time you call
a lover for your life and nothing more
But it ain't me babe
no, no no it aint me babe
it ain't me your'e lookin' for babe
03 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (05:18)
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways,
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin',
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
And who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded in hatred,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
And, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
And the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where the souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and speak it and think it and breathe it,
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it,
And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
04 The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (05:28)
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'.
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland,
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling,
In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen.
She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level,
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room,
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle.
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'.
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished,
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence.
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.
05 Romance in Durango (05:24)
Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun
Dust on my face and my cape,
Me and Magdalena on the run
I think this time we shall escape.
Sold my guitar to the baker's son
For a few crumbs and a place to hide,
But I can get another one
And I'll play for Magdalena as we ride.
No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.
Past the Aztec ruins and the ghosts of our people
Hoofbeats like castanets on stone.
At night I dream of bells in the village steeple
Then I see the bloody face of Ramon.
Was it me that shot him down in the cantina
Was it my hand that held the gun?
Come, let us fly, my Magdalena
The dogs are barking and what's done is done.
No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.
At the corrida we'll sit in the shade
And watch the young torero stand alone.
We'll drink tequila where our grandfathers stayed
When they rode with Villa into Torreon.
Then the padre will recite the prayers of old
In the little church this side of town.
I will wear new boots and an earring of gold
You'll shine with diamonds in your wedding gown.
The way is long but the end is near
Already the fiesta has begun.
The face of God will appear
With His serpent eyes of obsidian.
No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.
Was that the thunder that I heard?
My head is vibrating, I feel a sharp pain
Come sit by me, don't say a word
Oh, can it be that I am slain?
Quick, Magdalena, take my gun
Look up in the hills, that flash of light.
Aim well my little one
We may not make it through the night.
No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.
06 Isis (05:13)
I married Isis on the fifth day of May,
But I could not hold on to her very long.
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.
I came to a high place of darkness and light.
The dividing line ran through the center of town.
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right,
Went in to the laundry to wash my clothes down.
A man in the corner approached me for a match.
I knew right away he was not ordinary.
He said, "Are you lookin' for somethin' easy to catch?"
I said, "I got no money." He said, "That ain't necessary."
We set out that night for the cold in the North.
I gave him my blanket, and he gave me his word.
I said, "Where are we goin'?" He said we'd be back by the fourth.
I said, "That's the best news that I've ever heard."
I was thinkin' about turquoise, I was thinkin' about gold,
I was thinkin' about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace.
As we rode through the canyons, through the devilish cold,
I was thinkin' about Isis, how she thought I was so reckless.
How she told me that one day we would meet up again,
And things would be different the next time we wed,
If I only could hang on and just be her friend.
I still can't remember all the best things she said.
We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice.
He said, "There's a body I'm tryin' to find.
If I carry it out it'll bring a good price."
'Twas-a then that I knew what he had on his mind.
The wind it was howlin' and the snow was outrageous.
We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn.
When he died I was hopin' that it wasn't contagious,
But I made up my mind that I had to go on.
I broke into the tomb, but the casket was empty.
There was no jewels, no nothin', I felt I'd been had.
When I saw that my partner was just bein' friendly,
When I took up his offer I must-a been mad.
I picked up his body and I dragged him inside,
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover.
I said a quick prayer then I felt satisfied.
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.
She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise.
Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed,
I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes.
I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead.
She said, "Where ya been?" I said, "No place special."
She said, "You look different." I said, "Well, I guess."
She said, "You been gone." I said, "That's only natural."
She said, "You gonna stay?" I said, "If you want me to, yes."
Isis, oh, Isis, your'e a mystical child.
What drives me to you is what drives me insane.
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin' rain.
07 Mr. Tambourine Man (05:41)
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though I know that evening's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I am branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And my ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escaping on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facing.
And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seeing that he's chasing.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
Then take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.
08 Simple Twist of Fate (04:19)
They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark.
She looked at him and he felt a spark
Tingle to his bones.
'Twas then he felt alone
And wished that he'd gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate.
They walked alone by the old canal.
A little confused, I remember well,
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burning bright.
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate.
A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walking on by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat up shade
Where he was waking up.
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate.
He woke up; the room was bare.
He didn't see her anywhere.
He told himself he didn't care; pushed the window open wide;
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.
He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks.
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks
Where the sailors all come in.
Maybe she'll pick him out again. How long must he wait
One more time for a simple twist of fate.
People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring, but I was born too late.
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.
09 Blowin' in the Wind (02:45)
How many roads must a man walk down,
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must the white dove sail,
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes'n how many times must the cannonballs fly,
Before they are forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes'n how many years can a mountain exist,
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes'n how many years can some people exist,
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes'n how many times can a man turn his head,
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes'n how many times must a man look up,
Before he can see the sky?
Yes'n how many ears must one man have,
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes'n how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
10 Mama, You Been on My Mind (03:13)
Perhaps it's the color of the sun cut flat
An' cov'rin' the crossroads I'm standing at,
Or maybe it's the weather or something like that,
But mama, you been on my mind.
I don't mean trouble, please don't put me down or get upset,
I am not pleadin' or sayin', "I can't forget."
I do not walk the floor bowed down an' bent, but yet,
Mama, you been on my mind.
Even though my mind is hazy an' my thoughts they might be narrow,
Where you been don't bother me nor bring me down in sorrow.
It don't even matter to me where you're wakin' up tomorrow,
But mama, you're just on my mind.
I am not askin' you to say words like "yes" or "no,"
Please understand me, I got no place for you t' go.
I'm just breathin' to myself, pretendin' not that I don't know,
Mama, you been on my mind.
When you wake up in the mornin', baby, look inside your mirror.
You know I won't be next to you, you know I won't be near.
I'd just be curious to know if you can see yourself as clear
As someone who has had you on his mind.
11 I Shall Be Released (04:33)
They say ev'ry man needs protection
They say ev'ry man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above the wall
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
yondah stands a man in this lonely crowd
a man who swears he's not to blame
every night I hear him crying out so loud
crying cause he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
They say ev'rything can be replaced
Yet ev'ry distance is not near
So I remember ev'ry damn face
Of ev'ry bastard who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
Loading comments slowly
